slkinsey

My understanding is that Jamaica Ginger wasn't exactly an alcohol infusion of ginger. Rather, it was a patent medicine presumably(?) containing other stuff as well. I know that it was adulterated with tri-o-tolyl phosphate during the prohibition years, causing a characteristic organophosphate-induced delayed neuropathy popularly known as "jake leg" in those who drank enough of it. I wonder how long an alcohol infusion of ginger will retain its bite. Gingerol, which is largely responsible for the spicy bite of ginter, changes over time into the compound zingerone. Zingerone is not present in fresh ginger and it's an aromatic flavor compound that isn't spicy-hot like gingerol. Anyway... I'm interested to hear your results. Why did you choose dry ginger over fresh? I imagine that the dry variety doesn't have as much gingerol as the fresh. Are you trying it in any of the cocktails mentioned at cocktailDB?

Nice. Except that a Manhattan s made with rye whiskey.

Okay, folks. Let's drift this back on-topic.

Interesting stuff, Tim. I'm going to convert your measurements to metric, which is more usual for cookware thickness. 1985 MasterChef: 3.68 mm (0.145") Later MasterChef: 3.43 mm (0.135") Later LTD: 3.35 mm (0.132") Original MC-2: 3.43 mm (0.135") New MC-2: 3.05 mm (0.120") Stainless: 2.54 mm (0.100")

Yep. Your results are more or less in line with what everyone seems to find. Stirring with crushed (or finely cracked) ice produces the coldest drink. This is all about two things: 1. Starting with very cold ice, and 2. increasing surface area for thermal transfer. Somewhere in my email archives I have a conversation I had with Audrey and I think Dave where I explained some of the science behind why this is the case. I'll have to see if I can drag it out some time. The thermodynamics of cocktails would probably make a valuable and interesting thread all on its own.

Pegu Club in SoHo Flatiron Lounge Brandy Library in TriBeCa

Yellow Chartreuse and tequila. Very cool.

Companies that sell "regular" salt aren't exactly synthesizing it up out of sodium and chloride. They're mining it (largely by injection of water and evaporation of the brine). And how did the salt deposits get into those mines? From the evaporation of ancient seas. By federal law, by the way, edible salt must be at least 97.5 percent sodium chloride. In reality, even for "sea salt," it's typically 99 percent or more.

I assumed as much. But, damn it Dave, you're putting a damper on my calling bullshit on their marketing hoo-ha. Especially since "once through a four column distiller" would seem to equal "distilled four times."

Interesting. Where did you read that Square One is distilled to lower proof? There reaches a point, IMO, where if the product isn't distilled to high enough proof and isn't rectified, it's perhaps better to descriobe is as a kind of mild whiskey than a vodka. Square One's own publicity materials say that it's produced in a "four column distiller," which sounds like regular high-proof rectification to me.

The article by Florence Fabricant is entitled Tea's Got a Brand New Bag Here is a short quote:

I'd say that the bbq is maybe not quite as good as Dinosaur -- but it could be only by a small margin. That beef rib is outstanding. Significantly for me at least, it's a hell of a lot easier to get to and there's never a wait for a table. Their fried chicken is the first in the City (other than my own) that I've really liked, but it sounds like there may be some variability still. Ask for all dark meat. I really like the sides. It's too bad that Fat Guy didn't try the baked beans, because I swear they're half pork.

As far as I can tell, it's a brand. http://www.plantationrum.com

Scott, what chemicals exactly do you think are used in making vodka? Vodka is made by taking fermented material and distilling it to high proof, after which time it is rectified and filtered. Vodka coming out of the still is typically an azeotropic solution of water and ethanol at around 95% abv. Where exactly are these "chemicals" figuring in? Are you suggesting that the makers of "organic" vodka use a distillation/rectification/filtration process that is meaningfully different from the process used by regular distillers. If so, I'd love to hear about these differences. Yes, I know it's a mistaken premise to suppose that congeners are the primary causes of hangovers. That's why I wrote, "This is a mistaken premise." Nevertheless, it is a fact that vodka makers refer to congeners when they speak of "impurities" (and a lack thereof) in their product. It's also a fact that several vodka makers have claimed that hangovers are lessened or less likely when one consumes spirits with low levels of congeners (i.e., their vodka). I should hasten to point out that ethanal (aka acetaldehyde), regardless of what role it may or may not play in hangover symptoms, is not an "impurity" found in spirits. Ethanol is converted in the body by the enzyme alcohol dehydrogenase into acetaldehyde, which is then converted into acetic acid by acetaldehyde dehydrogenase. Since the ethanol in "organic" vodka is exactly the same as the ethanol in "regular" vodka, there will be no difference. I'm curious: If we ran two batches -- one "organic" and the other "regular, but otherwise identical -- through an identical fermentation/distillation/rectification/filtration process using the same stills, etc. Do you believe a chemical analysis of the 95% abv vodka at the end of the process could tell the two batches apart? Because I don't.

I find that a good 100% agave tequila makes an especially good match with maraschino. Pairs funk with funk. Campari is also good with tequila. Katie at Flatiron Lounge came up with a great tequila cocktail called (I think) the Siesta. IIRC, it's more or less a Floridita with tequila instead of rum. Delicious.

Here's an odd mention in Gawker with what purports to be a picture of a tray of wheatgrass in the Pegu Blub bathroom. I've never seen anything like that there. Anyone else?

Interesting. I don't find them alike at all.

This gets a little complicated. Yes, there is a huge difference between rhum agricole and cachaça. They are both distilled from fermented sugarcane juice, but there are large stylistic differences. There are, of course, variations within the two categories but if I could widely generalize I'd say that cachaça is distilled to lower proof than rhum agricole and that cachaça therefore tends to be a rougher, less refined spirit. I should hasten to point out that this isn't a judgment of relative quality, but rather a generalization about stylistic approach.

Is this going to be some kind of pousse cafe?

Ramsay has been talking about opening in NYC for at least 4 years. This from the September 2002 edition of Condé Nast Traveler:

Yes, I am given to understand that a copper mug was part of the original schtick. Since this drink was, for all intents and purposes, an advertising gambit, I'm sure there is a fairly unequivoical record and I don't see any reason to doubt the official story.

There are probably many reasons. Given that the bars are not paying retail anyway, I wonder how much money they would save by buying 1.75 liter bottles. Second, as mentioned above, there are practical use and storage issues. Third, there are spoilage issues wrt fruit flies, oxidation, etc. Finally, the 1.75 liter bottles don't have a good aesthetic appearance.

The "corned" actually refers to the coarse grains of salt ("corns" of salt) that were used to pickle the beef. Anything that has been brined to the extent that it begins to show those distinctive changes that result from long brining may be called "corned."

The best technique I've found for braising brisket is to do it very low and slow in the oven to the point of barely fork tender. Then take it out and let it cool, reduce the braising liquid and cut the brisket into thin slices. After that, reassemble the brisked slices in a pan that is barely able to contain them, making sure to get some of the reduced braising liquid in between each slice. Then return the whole thing to the oven until fully tender. This allows for the brisket to be in slices but tender to an extent that it would fall apart if you tried to slice it. And the fact that each slice is bathed in the reduced braising liquid as it finishes cooking seems to mitigate any dryness problems.

Glutamate is the anion of glutamic acid. That's what it is. An anion. Absolutely. Just as it is possible that salt tastes different to different people, or that cut grass smells different to different people or that the color blue looks different to different people. We can never know how each individual person perceives a given sense, only that they tend to agree that blue looks like blue and salt tastes like salt. Most likely because certain foods are high in free glutamate and others are not. Chicken breast stir fried with broccoli and garlic, for example, doesn't seem like it would be very high in free glutamate. There is also the fact that, while certain foods may be high in free glutamate, sometimes you want more umami. Similarly, sometimes an ingredient is naturally high in salt, but you still may want to add more to the dish. Industrially, of course, it allows companies to make chicken soup with fewer chickens. What I think many of us are saying in this thread is that it doesn't make sense for someone to say "I'm allergic to salt that comes from a salt shaker" when they don't seem to have any problem eating anchovies. A lot of it, frankly, is simply a lack of knowledge. It's like people who believe that sea salt is "better for them" than mined salt, when in fact all salt is sea salt (how do you suppose the salt deposits got there?). MSG can be made many different ways. It was originally discovered as the white crystals covering kombu seaweed. It can also be made by hydrolyzing grain or soy protein using either enzymes or hydrochloric acid. Today it is typically made by fermenting things like sugar cane, corn, sugar beets, etc. with bacteria that excrete glutamic acid. Either way, the glutamate is filtered out, concentrated and crystallized. It's certainly possible that contaminants can find their way into the process, depending on who is making the stuff. This is, of course, equally true of any number of food and ingredient production methods (decaf coffee, for example). I think the issue is that a lot of people decide that they're allergic to MSG because they get a reaction in Chinese restaurants sometimes, without really doing any of the work to determine whether it really is MSG. I can't tell you the number of times someone has told me about their horrible sensitivity to MSG while munching on a bag of Doritos or grating a big pile of parmigiano-reggiano on their pasta. This has some similarity to people who will tell you that they're "lactose intolerant" and therefore can't eat that nice piece of Stilton (which doesn't contain any lactose). Usually, people who have peanut allergies aren't telling you about them while eating food that's been fried in peanut oil. But, then again, peanuts aren't exactly something that play an important role in human metabolism and occur naturally in thousands of foods.